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Submitted By:
Abhinav Narula
PGDMB12/01
Ch 1: Introduction To Human Resource Management
Experiential Exercise – Helping “The Donald”
Articulate a vision for the company that takes people beyond the crisis. In a crisis, people yearn for something they can hold on to and must convince themselves that they have a future where they are. A strong, clearly articulated vision offers more than a “we can get back to where we were” mindset. Isolate and fix core issues. In our case, the board and senior management Be visible and in person. Employees need to be able to look you in the eye and shake your hand before they know they can trust you. If leadership has been discredited, an e-mail message will not turn things around. In the ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ episode when Mr. Trump fires Ginne Simmons, the procedure followed is interview and selection of candidates. Here Ginne used his power to bring back two candidates who themselves felt were not the deserving ones. Thus due to the bad choice and not exhibiting proper HR practice, Ginne is fired by Mr. Trump. Here the 2 selected candidates became successful because though they did not deserve, according to the show’s rules Mr. Trump did not have the power to fire them as they were selected by Ginne Simmons when he was asked to select any two. But at the end he himself got fired because of his too tough and independent nature and his wrong choice of candidates. Understand the art of pace. A crisis atmosphere enables you to do some things faster. Changes in culture, however, still need to be nurtured over time; they can’t be rushed – not, at least, in a $40 billion company. Following are the related steps seigel took to help get Tyco back on the right track: 1.Effective recruitment and selection process: 2.Emphasis on Talent development and effective training: 3.Increasing and recruiting more number of independent auditors: 4.Conducting seminars on ethical policies: 5.Change in the bonus plan: 6.Installation of IT sytems: IT executives to implement effective communication and IT system for better communication across the various departments and across various businesses in different countries. Also emphasis was given to corporate governance.
Ch 2: Employment Law in India and The United States
Q5.
I, assuming to be the manager of a small restaurant and responsible for hiring, supervising employees and recommending them for promotion, must avoid the following potentially discriminatory management practices.
• I must not rely upon the word-of-mouth spreading of information about job opportunities. When a particular class of people is working under me, word-of mouth awareness about job opportunities reduces the chances of people outside this class to get to know about the openings and apply for the same.
• I must not provide any wrong or misleading information to members working under me. I must also not refuse to advise them of the work opportunities available and ways and procedures of obtaining it.
• I must not discriminate jobs based on gender or age in my advertisements. If gender seems to be demanding for a particular type of job, it can be used in the advertisement. Otherwise differentiating jobs based on gender or age should not be practiced.
• I must not give preference to my relatives or my worker’s relatives for any job opportunities unless they are found demanding and competent for the desired role. I must not make any discrimination based on the physical appearance of the workers in the job openings unless the desired role demands for some specifications in height and weight.
• I must not employ children below the age of 14 as this is considered as violation of Child Labor Acts in India.
• I must ensure proper and fair wages to all employees irrespective of any discrimination and make them eligible for promotion and transfer.
Application Case
Q1. Ms. Browne Sanders had statements, incidents to prove her point in the court to explain the sexual harassment which as she said occurred to her. She quoted Mr. Thomas’s statements towards and incidents in which he misbehaved towards her. Q2. The jury must have checked the proof regarding her under performing in the company and ‘not up-to the mark’ statements put forth by Mr. Thomas as a reason to dismiss her from the job. If the provided proof (performance appraisal report and other related documents) is not valid enough then the jury should have made the decision in favor of Ms. Browne Sanders. He could have also asked to produce any co-employee verdict for the same who knew both Ms. Sanders and Mr. Thomas well. Q3. Garden management should have produced her complete performance statements and documents in the court. They should also had produced witness from her peers who knew how she performed and who were part of the appraisal and performance/competency scoring process.
Q4. If Mr. Thomas was not guilty then I would have stood strong in my point of view and submitted the required proof in front of jury at the right time. I would also have an official word with Ms Sanders to know her real motive. But if Mr. Thomas was guilty I would have tried to talk out Ms. Sanders for a off the court settlement to avoid ruining of my company’s image and dismiss Mr. Thomas once the case is closed. Q5. Yes I agree with the statement because if Mr. Thomas is found guilty then the act of dismissing an employee for complaining to top management on sexual harassment brings a very bad picture to the company and this raises ethical issues regarding the rules and regulations followed in the company and also a doubt regarding how the employees are treated within the company. The work culture becomes questionable under such a circumstance.
Ch 3: The Manager’s Role In Strategic Human Resource Management
Q1. Form strategic management group for your college. Develop an outline of the strategic plan of the college.
Vision & Mission Statement: To impart high quality knowledge and relevant skill sets to develop future leaders of corporate world and improve image of college. Strategic Goals: 1) Development of outstanding student community 2) Emphasis on holistic development of the students 3) Development of student exchange program with foreign universities to get recognition outside India. As many professors hold degrees from foreign universities and help in research, this goal should get high priority. 4) Development of strong Alumni base. Being a new college and having smaller batch size the alumni base is not very large and will grow as years pass. 5) Development of industry interface for students to get better exposure of industry while studying and help in placements. 6)Development of research centres for students to work in while studying. Corporate Strategy- To increase visibility of college both among students and corporate world by proper advertising and taking regular feedback from corporate about placed students and new trends in market. Competitive Strategy-Maintain the quality of finance course for which IFMR is known at the same time try improving other fields as well so that college has competitive edge over others. This would help attract good students and better companies for placements. The 100% placement feature needs to be advertised more. Functional Strategy- Each course director should bring changes in the course according to industry needs so that students should get updated knowledge as per industry standards. Take help of corporate in designing of course content. This would get them interested and keep course material practical. Try getting some corporate to mentor students for project work.
Q5. Develop outline of career plan for yourself providing directions for your career decisions.
Career Goal: To become Software Project Manager in a reputed IT organization.
Abilities and Requirements:
• A master’s degree in management • In depth knowledge of Software project management and ERP
• Ability to work as a part of a team
• Analytical thinking skills
• Capacity for detail work
• Writing skills
• Presentation skills
Current Skills and experiences:
• Under graduation: B.Tech (Computer Science)
• Knowledge of software coding languages.
• Prior experience of working on projects designing websites
• 6 months summer internship in IT Department of ONGC.
• Experience of working in a team and in time bound environment to achieve targets.
Plan: • I plan to do a post graduate diploma in business administration. In MBA, I
plan to specialize in Information Technology and take up relevant subjects of other fields.
• On completion of MBA degree, I intend to take a position as a management trainee with a leading IT firm. In this position as a management trainee, I intend to gain an all-round practical knowledge about how work is done in organization and try to imbibe practical knowledge from experienced people working there.
• After a one or two of years I plan to do certification course in project management which would further develop my technical skills. Thus in 5 years span I plan to become software project manager by following the above mentioned career path.
Hotel Paris Case
Q1. Draw a simple strategy map for Hotel Paris.
Highly committed employees who are dedicated and are willing to go the extra mile for Paris Hotels
Motivated and high morale employees who provide high quality customer service
Institute Practices to improve disciplinary fairness and justice in company
Form HR Policies aimed at improving employee morale.
Improve logistics, Marketing & Sales and support activities by training employees and following protocols.
Form HR Scorecard containing various metrics from different fields for proper monitoring using digital dashboards.
Fewer Customer Complaints, longer stays and higher guest expenditures per visit.
Use superior guest service to differentiate Hotel Paris properties and boost revenues and profitability.
Continue to expand geographically and provide multi-city alternatives for satisfied guests.
HR Practices:
Workspace Competencies and Behaviors:
Operations Activities:
Required Organizational Outcomes:
Ch 4: Job Analysis
Q1. Draw job description for clerical position at the college. Does it contain enough information to explain what the job involves and how to do it?
TITLE: Front Desk Clerk REPORTS TO: Librarian
PRESENT JOB HOLDER: LOCATION: Chennai
DEPARTMENT: Library BAND: M/F
Duties and Responsibilities:
Term Time (until June) Hours: 9:15am – 6pm Mon - Sat
o Undertake complete book keeping of the library, maintaining records of books issued and books
returned, other activities like maintaining the condition of the books.
o Be on time for your shift.
o Provide descriptions of books and the location where they are kept.
o Keep track of new books coming in the library and any books needed.
o Utilize computers with skill and proficiency.
o Answer the phone promptly.
o Handle readers’ questions and concerns professionally and courteously.
o Maintain a clean; safe, fully stocked and well organized work area.
o Develop ability to work without constant direct supervision and remain at assigned post for
extended periods of time.
o Regularly attend, participate in and support training and staff meetings.
o Assist in all areas of operation as requested by management.
o Communicate to management any and all occurrences involving staff or readers that require
attention.
Job Requirements/Entry Criteria:
o A graduation in Arts or Sciences or Humanities
o Excellent communication skills
o Excellent man-management skills
o Ability to liaise with all departments
Agreed by Head of Department: __________________________________
Agreed by Job Holder: __________________________________
According to me the job description contains enough information to tell what the job involves but not how those responsibilities need to be fulfilled. I think this much information in the job description is enough but the candidate should be explained in detail how the work has to be done after basic screening of the candidates. The candidates should be given a set of standards & procedures before selecting them for the job.
Carter Cleaning Company Case:
Job Description of store manager
TITLE: Store Manager REPORTS TO: Owner/Manager
PRESENT JOB HOLDER: LOCATION:
DEPARTMENT: BAND: M/F
Duties and Responsibilities:
Hours: 9:15am – 6pm Mon - Sat
o Supervising and ensuring smooth activities in the store.
o Be on time for your shift.
o Prepare and manage laundry store’s budgets.
o Supervise the activities of workers engaged in examine and sort into lots articles to be
cleaned, according to color, fabric, dirt content, and cleaning technique required.
o Handle customer’s questions and concerns professionally and courteously.
o Interview, select, and train laundry dry cleaning and supervisory personnel. o Maintain a clean; safe, fully stocked and well organized work area.
o Plan, develop, and implement laundry and dry cleaning safety and security programs and
activities.
o Prepare or direct preparation of correspondence, reports, and operations, maintenance, and safety manuals.
o Confer with the other workers to coordinate laundry and dry cleaning activities, such as remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so..
o Review invoices, work orders, consumption reports, and demand forecasts to estimate peak delivery periods and to issue work assignments.
o Develop ability to work without direct supervision and remain at assigned post for extended
periods of time.
o Regularly attend, participate in and support training and staff meetings.
o Assist in all areas of operation as requested by management.
o Communicate to management any and all occurrences involving staff or customers that require
attention.
Job Requirements/Entry Criteria:
o Any bachelor’s degree with 5 years of work experience as a manager
o Prior experience in cleaning company.
o Excellent communication skills
o Excellent man-management skills
o Motivator and team leader.
Agreed by Head of Department: __________________________________
Agreed by Job Holder: __________________________________
STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE:
The position is expected to produce good revenue to the shop. The customer satisfaction is also a key factor. The direct and indirect supervisory capabilities are expected.
Ch 5: Human Resource Planning and Recruiting
Q1. Create hard copy ad for IIT to place in employment pages.
IIT Roorkee invites applications from well qualified candidates for faculty positions at the level of Professor in its various academic Departments, Centres, Schools and Interdisciplinary programs. Reservation: Without any compromise on qualification, experience and competence, reservation as per Government of India rules 15%, 7 ½ % and 27% for SCs, STs and OBCs respectively is applicable at entry level positions of Assistant Professor in Science and Technology departments. However, in recruitment of faculty posts in subjects other than science and technology reservation shall also be applied in full including for the posts of Associate Professors and Professors. Necessary certificates must be enclosed with the application form. GOI policy on reservation of faculty positions also includes persons with Physical disability. Departments: Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Earth Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Humanities & Social Sciences, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Physics, Energy Science & Engineering, Biosciences & Bioengineering Qualifications: Ph.D. with First class or equivalent (in terms of Grades etc.) at the preceding degree and a good academic record throughout Experience: Professor
A minimum of ten years teaching/research/professional experience of which at least 4 years should be at the level of Associate Professor in a research organization or industry as on the date of application. The candidate should have demonstrated leadership in research in a specific area of specialization in terms of guidance of Ph.D. students, strong record of publications in reputed journals and conferences, patents, laboratory/course development and/or other recognized relevant professional activities.
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE ROORKEE, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA – 247667
Contact No. +91-1332-285311, Email Id: [email protected]
Pay Band: PB4 (Rs.37400-67000) with Academic Grade Pay of Rs.10,500/p.m. For Direct recruits minimum pay in the Pay Band to be fixed at Rs.48,000/p.m. 1. Allowances as admissible to Central Government employees apply. 2. A Cumulative Professional Development Allowance of Rs.3.0 Lakhs in a block of 3 years is admissible to all faculty.
In addition to incentives which are a part of the pay package according to 6th Pay Commission norms, the following apply:
• Start up grant up to a maximum limit of Rs.10 Lakhs for carrying out research projects. • A 'Young Faculty Award' instituted from funds obtained by the Class of 1982, to faculty
joining at the Assistant Professor of Rs.1.0 Lakh/year for the first three years after joining.
• Reimbursement of relocation charges of upto Rs.1.0 Lakhs for faculty from abroad for reimbursement of air fare for self and spouse and cost of transportation of goods. Reimbursement of upto Rs.50,000/for self and family and transport of goods for faculty joining from within India.
• An honorarium of Rs.15,000/per month to the faculty who have obtained Bhatnagar Award and to faculty who are fellows of at least two National Academies.
The information sheet containing full details of the areas of specialization in which faculty are required and application form is available on the institute's website http://www.iitr.ac.in, Faculty Recruitment. The application must be complete with full details of educational qualifications including year of obtaining Ph.D., list of publications (with reprints of the best papers), teaching/ research/industrial experience, date of birth along with the names and contact details of three referees. The application may be sent to Registrar, IIT Roorkee. NOTE:
• Mere fulfillment of the qualifications and experience requirement laid down does not entitle a candidate to be called for interview.
• Candidates belonging to SC/ST communities, persons with Physical disabilities and also women candidates are exempted from payment of application fee. Also, no fee is applicable to candidates applying from abroad. Candidates other than those mentioned above, must send a Demand Draft for Rs.100/drawn on any nationalized bank payable at Mumbai, in favour of Registrar, IIT Roorkee along with the application.
• Persons employed in Government/Semi-Government Organization or Educational Institutions must apply through proper channel.
• The Institute reserves the right to fill or not to fill any or all the posts advertised.
Q2. Analyze and critique the current recruitment advertisements by IIT.
• The advertisement should be attractive to the eyes of the prospective applicants • The eligibility criteria should be more elaborate. • The job description and selection process are ambiguous.
Q3. Prepare an outline for complete faculty recruitment program for a new IIT.
Faculty recruitment process at IIT’s: • Activity Requirement analysis - number of faculty members required, area of
specialization, etc. Preparation of advertisement draft • Publishing the advertisement
o leading newspapers o public and non-profit agencies o internet advertising o private agencies
• Availability of application form • Sending the received applications to the department • Scrutiny of the applications received • Shortlist to be sent the administration • Call letter to all short listed candidates • Emails (call letter) to all short listed candidates on behalf of the Head • Email to all referees quoted in the CVs of candidates • Reminder email to all referees • Email to short listed candidates (prospective faculty members) for title and abstract of the
presentation (seminar) • Email to faculty@it, faculty@cse, faculty@ee, faculty@me and adjfac@it giving
schedule and details of the seminar of the candidates • Presentation by the candidates • Collection of resumes, references, and related papers of each candidate • Interview in the Board Room, Main Building • Declaration of the selected candidates Offer letter (appointment letter) • Acceptance letter from the candidate • Joining formalities :-
o Joining report o Two (minimum) attestation forms. o I card form (with three passport size photographs of each family member) o Medical check up.
• Accommodation o Letter to Chairman, Accommodation Allotment Committee o If alloted, faculty member has to fill up the form available in o Estate Office. o After submitting the duly filled form in Estate Office, keys of the quarter are
handed over. o Gas Connestion o Ration card, if required.
• Arrangement of Faculty cabin and other formalities – o Faculty module
o Name plate o PC with LAN connection and printer o Email and Internet account creation o Visiting cards o Stationery –
i. White board with markers and duster. ii. Pens, Pencils, sharpener and erasers. iii. Stapler, stapler pins, paper clips, iv. Envelopes, gum, cello tape, ruler, paper cutter, dustbin, duster cloth v. Calendar
• Release pf joining order • Letter for directing the salary to bank account, if needed
Ch 6: Employee Testing & Selection
Q5. Why is it important to conduct pre employment background investigations?
One’s past behavior is considered to be the best indicator for judging their future behavior.. The process is crucial as it is important to gain as much information as possible about past behavior to understand what kinds of behavior can expect in future. This might be true in some cases but not always, however employers still consider background checking to be a very important part of the recruitment process.
Knowledge about attendance issues, insubordination problems, theft or other behavioral problems can certainly help one avoid hiring someone who is likely to repeat those behaviors.
Thus background checks are used for verifying a candidates application details and to uncover any damaging information about the candidate. Some methods used for background checking include:
o Reference letters from previous employers o Forms to be filled up by past employer o Telephonic conversation with the previous employer o Asking candidates open ended questions o Checking the resumes with the application letters for deviations o Services of companies offering pre employment information services o Using the polygraph and Honesty Tests o Using the Paper and Pencil Honesty Tests o Graphology and Handwriting Analysis o Physical Exercises o Substance abuse Screening Test
Q6. Explain how you would get around the problem of former employers unwilling to give bad references on their former employees.
Conducting reference audit by contacting at least two superiors, two peers and two subordinates helps increase the chance that the employer will find someone who is willing to give information about the employee. Also, making the contact by phone rather than writing might increase their belief that the information may not be tracked back to them therefore they might give out some useful information
Ch 7: Interviewing Candidates
Q5.
Pros: o In practical situations and informal environment, candidates can find their true selves. o If the interview process is stress free, the candidates can open up and recruiters will get to
know more about them. o Brain teasers can be used to judge the reasoning capabilities.
Cons: o A candidate who is lower on social skill but strong in technical skill may not perform that
good in dining table etiquette but in this process he or she might get eliminated. o Such informal process misses out on their compatibility to the specific jobs they are hired
for. o By allowing candidates to criticize openly will adversely affect morale of other
candidates. Recommendations: I recommend this type of interview process for testing of behavioral skill but there must be some serious staff for technical interview. At the same time, instead of just mingling, I would have given them group activities which will require better coordination.
Q6.
Steps to avoid Corporate Head Hunters: o During the time of recruitment, it may be made mandatory for employees not to disclose
any business secrets to anyone outside of the company. o Employees can be given frequent training on how to keep information secret.
Potential questions for Head Hunting: o Tell me something about your team mates and their background? o Can you describe the project you are currently associated with? o What are the future projects you are going to be associated with? o When will these projects commence? o How do you perceive your present company’s work culture? Given opportunity, what
changes do you want to bring in your company? o What are the challenges you are facing right now in executing your project? o What are the trainings you have undergone in your company?
Ch 8: Training and Developing Employees
Q1. A well thought-out orientation program is essential for all new employees whether they have experience or not. Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement.
New employees can suffer from lot of anxiety during the first few days on the job as they find
themselves in an environment and culture that they are not familiar with. Those with little job
experience may find it especially difficult without an orientation since they have little other
experience on which to base their expectations. A well-developed orientation program will
socialize new employees into important organizational values, whereby their chances of easing
smoothly into the organization are improved. In the long term a proper orientation program leads
to higher employee satisfaction.
Hotel Paris Case:
Q1. Based on what you read in this chapter, what do you suggest Director Li and her team do first with respect to training? Why?
Director Li shiould review employee performance evaluation forms to determine whether and where there are deficits. Customer feedback may also indicate whether there is a need for certain types of training.
Q2 Have Director Li and her team sufficiently investigated whether training is really needed? Why? What would you suggest?
I donot think that Li and her team have sufficiently investigated whether training is needed. Although there are large differences in such measures as spending as percentage of payroll that in itself does not mean training is lacking. On the job training costs little and may be taking place on an informal, and therefore unmeasured, basis. Additionally, such things as employee tenure may be having an effect on training costs – if the hotel employees have been there for many years, they may require less training than the employees of a hotel with high turnover. Li needs to analyze the need for training more thoroughly.
Q3 Based on what you read in this chapter, and what you may access via the Web, develop a detailed training program for one of these hotel positions: security guard, housekeeper, or doorperson. Training for a job as a valet parking attendant is a matter of practicing to be a careful and intelligent driver. Most valet companies require the candidate to have experience as a valet in order to get a job. Proper training includes practicing driving and parking a wide variety of cars and trucks with both automatic and manual transmissions.
o Training Module 1: Driving laws. The candidate should study and memorize the rules, laws and regulations in state's official driver handbook that is available at local Department of Motor Vehicles.
o Training Module 2: Practice driving as many vehicles. It is important that the candidate is comfortable driving the wide assortment of vehicles. These include vehicles with manual transmissions, start-button ignitions and hybrid electric engines. Practice with all sizes of cars and trucks as well from compacts to full-size SUVs.
o Training Module 3: Practice people skills. Being a good valet who makes good tips is also a matter of how well the candidate interacts with different people. Teach proper social etiquette such as opening the door for a woman first, saying "thank you" and assuring the driver that his vehicle will be safe.
Ch 9: Training and Developing Employees
Q1. What is the purpose of a performance appraisal? A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career) development discussion is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives. Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well, such as behavior, accomplishments, potential for future improvement, strengths and weaknesses, etc. How performance is managed in an organization determines to a large extent the success or failure of the organization. Therefore, improving performance appraisals for everyone should be among the highest priorities of contemporary” organizations.
Reasons for the utilization of performance appraisals are:
o Performance improvement (“initially at the level of the individual employee, and ultimately at the level of the organization).
o as a basis for employment decisions (e.g. promotions, terminations, transfers),
o as criteria in research (e.g. test validation),
o to aid with communication (e.g. allowing employees to know how they are doing and organizational expectations),
o to establish personal objectives for training
o in wage and salary administration.
o aid in the formulation of job criteria and selection of individuals “who are best suited to perform the required organizational tasks
o A performance appraisal can be part of guiding and monitoring employee career development
The purpose of evaluation is to communicate clearly to the individual evaluated how well he/she is meeting expectations for a person at his/her level.
Ch 10: Training and Developing Employees
Q1. Where would you like to be career wise after 10 years. In ten years, I desire to be a leading an IT firm in the field of web based technology development. I plan to achieve this through a planned program of education / specialized courses and career activities.
• I plan to do a post graduate diploma in business administration. In MBA, I plan to specialize in Information Technology and take up relevant subjects of other fields.
• On completion of MBA degree, I intend to take a position as a management trainee with a leading IT firm. In this position as a management trainee, I intend to gain an all-round practical knowledge about how work is done in organization and try to imbibe practical knowledge from experienced people working there.
• After a one or two of years I plan to do certification course in project management which would further develop my technical skills.
. Following the field experience, I intend to spend at least 3-4 years in project management and demand creation, gaining experience in: -Software Development Life Cycle -project planning -software launches - Marketing of new ideas - Advertising
• Subsequent to this , I intend to work as a group software project manager for 2 years. This will give me some additional experience in managing a group of products
• Following this, I intend to work in another company, to gain a variety of IT exposure. • I hope after this I would have the necessary knowledge, experience, contacts and finances
to start my own IT Firm.
Q6. Choose 3 occupations and discuss their future demand. The three occupations chosen are:
1. Management consultant 2. HR Manager 3. Salesperson
Future demand for these occupations is:
1. Management consultant:- As more and more companies are investing in new projects, hence, they want a guideline to do the same. Hence, the management consultant jobs have a bright future as the demand for these consultants will increase. Hence, it looks like a good occupation to pursue as its demand is increasing.
2. HR Manager:- The job of a HR Manager comprises of recruiting, training, preparing appraisals, assessment of performance, promoting, giving incentives, etc. As the organizations have started outsourcing some of these jobs. Hence, the demand will not increase much.
3. Salesperson:- As the companies as well as the customers have started using online applications increasingly, hence, the demand for the salesperson will reduce with time and the advancement in technology because it proves to be more efficient. Hence, it is not a good job option to pursue.
Ch 11: Training and Developing Employees
Q3. Pay Range Average Pay
Chemical Engineer 17,000 to 1,02,000 59,000
Marketing Manger 20,000 to 1,35,000 66,000
HR Manager 13,000 to 64,000 47,000
Q4.
As thousands of Americans lose their jobs, headlines are focused on excessive executive compensation and lavish perks -- John Thain's $1.2 million redo of his executive suite at Merrill Lynch (since repaid), Citigroup's plan to buy a new corporate jet (since scrapped), and recent subpoenas to claw back bonuses handed out at Merrill Lynch. A report suggested that New York financial executives took in $18.4 billion in bonuses while the banking system was receiving billions in a taxpayer-funded bailout. On February 4, president Obama announced a set of executive compensation limits aimed mainly at firms that are the recipients of federal aid under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The rules place a $500,000 cap on salaries. Any additional compensation will have to be in the form of restricted stock grants that will not vest until after taxpayers are repaid. In addition, all banks must accept new limits on golden parachutes, requirements that shareholders be able to review and vote on compensation packages (the vote would be non-binding), and tougher disclosure rules for spending on travel, office renovations and entertainment. The new rules will not be applied retroactively to companies that have already received TARP funds. Such firms must show that they complied with existing rules and agree to strict oversight.
'Self-serving Comparisons'
During the past decade, for example, CEO compensation has been going up at twice the rate of overall pay. As a result, CEOs and other top executives see these historically high rates as the new normal. When the economic environment is good, it is easy to pass along pay increases. When the tide reverses, however, it is painful to go back, and executives resist any push to return to prior levels. The public accepts outsized salaries in sports and entertainment; why not business. Limiting compensation could drive the best chief executives to foreign firms or into private finance without as much government oversight.
Too Much Government vs. Too Little
I think we should have greater disclosure of compensation so shareholders have sufficient incentives to make sure CEOs don't get overpaid if they do a poor job." Indeed, shareholders, not government, should be making the decisions based on an incentive structure designed to benefit them. If government places harsh restrictions on compensation at companies receiving bailouts, the best managers will steer clear of those firms. If that happens, he said, the odds that taxpayers' investment in the companies will pay off in renewed growth will be diminished.
Conclusion
Thus the fuss over reducing the executive pay packages is justified to a certain extent but placing too many restrictions on the pay packages might negatively influence the performance of the companies.
Ch 12: Pay for Performance and Financial Incentives
Carter Cleaning Company Case:
Q1. Should the plan be extended to pressers in the other stores?
No, this plan should not be implemented to pressers in other stores in its present form. This is because though the piece-rate system makes more effective utilization of Walt’s time and the company’s energy, quality control is a problem. The company should therefore not use the plan in its present form but make changes to include incentives for maintaining quality and then use the plan.
Q2. Should other employees be put on a similar plan?
It is sensible to use the plan for some positions but not for all. Cleaner-spotters are production employees who could benefit from such a piece work plan along with the incentives for quality. This would ensure that the garments are cleaned correctly and the quality is maintained. An incentive plan that focuses more towards customer satisfaction rather than the number of customers served would make a more sensible pay plan for the counter people.
Q3.Is there any other incentive plan you think will be more effective for the pressers?
The company could use several other incentive plans for the pressures such as:
• Combination plans (which include salary plus piece-rate incentives) • Profit Sharing Pay Plans (wherein employees have a share in the company’s profits) • Merit Pay (higher pay for employees who are more productive)
Q4.
For the store managers and front desk quality of service is more important rather than the number of units served. Thus the company could use several incentive plans to motivate the employees to serve more clients and at the same time ensure that the quality is maintained. Some examples of such pay plans include:
• Profit Sharing Pay Plans • Gain sharing Pay Plans • Performance Based Pay Plans • Annual Bonuses • Recognitions • Merit Based Pay Plan • Stock Option Plans
• Team or group incentive plans
The company could use these plans either individually or in various combinations as the management feels fit.
Hotel Paris Case:
Q1. Discuss what you think about the measurable criteria that Lisa and the CFO set.
I think Lisa was right in trying to implement measurable criteria but the incentive based pay was
little inappropriate. In trying to link the employee performance with pay they should also include
a factor of hotel performance because ultimately their aim was to increase rate and return of the
guests and boost revenues. So even if the employees performed but it did not increase the
revenues then this incentive based pay will not serve the purpose. Apart from that incentive
based scheme was good as it will motivate the employees who are not committed as in the hotel
business even one employee inappropriate behavior can make the hotel lose the employee.
Q2. List three or four specific behaviors that you would incentivize for the following groups: Front desk, Hotel Managers, Valet, Housekeepers.
Front Desk employees. They should always courteous to the employees. They should always
entertain any kind of query of the customer. Even if the customer is rude they should treat them
well.
Hotel Managers. They should all the things are in order,. If a customer has a problem he should
see to it that it is resolved as soon as possible.. He should always be aware of the things that are
happening in the hotel should not be indifferent to the things happening around him.
Valet As soon as the customer arrives they should see that they park the cars properly. He should
handle the cars properly. As soon as he is called he should be come.
House Keepers They should see that the room should be ready before customer comes. If he
finds any lost item of the customer then he should give it back to the customer. He should see all
the equipments of the rooms are properly setup.
Q3. Layout a complete incentive plan for hotel Paris’s hotel managers.
Short Term
As the customer leaves hotel should take feedback of the customer about the behavior of the
employees. Based on that feedback short term incentives should be given. If a customer praises
an employee then he can be rewarded.
They should have schemes like ‘Employee of the Month’ and have their pictures pasted on the
walls of hotel which give him and other employees to work hard.
Hotel could share their some portion of the yearly profit with the employees
If regular complaints are made against a particular employee then he should be penalized
Long Term
Hotel should keep reserves for awarding the employees keeping in mind the long term
perspective.
Hotel should monitor the work of the employees over a period of time and award them if they
had been consistent from the reserves hotel have kept.
If the hotel is listed then they can give employee stock options to the employees.
Ch 13: Benefits and Services
Carter Cleaning Company Case:
Q1. Draw up a policy statement regarding vacations, sick leave and paid days off.
Annual / Earned Leave A annual vacation plan is designed to provide employees with the opportunity to rest and get away from the everyday routine. Employees are entitled to annual leave of up to 15 working days in a calendar year. The EL accrues only after the completion of each year. Employees be entitled to earned leave only on confirmation of services. Unavailed earned leaves if any for the year can be carried over to the next year. However employees can carry over a maximum of 10 ELs only. An employee, once entitled for Earned leave, is advised to avail at least minimum of 5 days leave per annum. In order to satisfy the employees preference and to meet the staffing needs of your department, employees are advised to discuss their vacation plans at least two weeks in advance with your reporting manager. Leave Encashment Earned leave can be accumulated from year to year, up to a maximum of 60 working days at any given time. Any leaves over and above 15 can be claimed for encashment. Earned leave payment would be calculated as per the current Basic salary. Casual / Sick Leave Employees are entitled to casual/Sick leave of up to 12 working days in a calendar year. This leave is for an employee to attend to his/her personal tasks, etc. The leave has to be applied and approved at least 2 days in advance. Not more than 2 consecutive days of leave will be approved in the case of CL. This leave has to be consumed in the same year, else is lapsed on 31st December every year. Maternity Leave Female employees who have been working with the company for not less than 90 days will be eligible for 90 days of paid maternity leave, up to two confinements. To facilitate arrangements for cover of duties, application for maternity leave will have to be made not less than two months prior to the date of commencement of leave. Absence from work due to miscarriage or any other illness arising out of pregnancy will not be considered as maternity leave, but as normal medical leave. Employees covered under ESI, shall govern as per the ESI guidelines. Paternity Leave Male Employees will be granted paternity leave for 2 working days. The leave should be availed within three weeks time of the birth of the child. This will be applicable up to a maximum of two confinements.
Special Leave As an employee friendly organization, an employee can avail one day leave over and above the other leaves above mentioned for one special occasion. This can be either his/her birthday or wedding anniversary only. Compensatory Offs An employee who has worked on a holiday is eligible for a compensatory off. However, this has to be approved by the Reporting Manager with appropriate justification for such extra work and efforts. Holidays Holidays commemorating events of national, social and religious significance are offered to employees. Apart from scheduled weekend/ earned & casual leaves there are 10 days declared as paid holidays every year. Holidays list is be put up every year in January and accordingly applicable.
Q2.Disadvantages and advantages
Employee Health Insurance It is treated as a Concept which may include Cash less cards, Cashless treatment at recognized Hospitals & Medi claims etc. The advantage is that incase of illness or accidents the employee can be admitted by anyone in the hospital without making any pre payments further incase of post treatment incase of huge bills the employees don’t require huge amount of money to pay the bills. The disadvantage is however the employer needs to have an in and out knowledge of the policy because the policy only covers certain types of illnesses and cases. Group insurance It is a specific term in Life insurance. Here a group (at least 25 in general cases) gets life insurance and this (premium payment) is generally by Employer or Employer & employee. This deals with death Benefit generally. The advantage of these policies is that it creates future wealth for the employees family as incase if the employee is deceased their families receive the insurance benefits. The employer also pays a certain percentage of the policy amount known as employer’s contribution due to which the employee earns an additional benefit which he otherwise wouldn’t have. However these kind of policies are not recommended for everyone because after the expiry of the policy the amount invested goes to the company. Thus at times it proves to be an investment which gives bad results. A single employee would be better off investing the amount elsewhere and later after marriage getting a life cover all by himself. Medi claim or Health Insurance Generally it is a Non-life Insurance term which generally come into General insurance and benefits the Person/employee in sickness, surgery, accident etc. for this minimum 24 hours Hospitalization is required if using cashless cards. The advantage of this facility is it frees the
mind of the insured from the burden of collecting sufficient funds for the expensive medical treatments especially in today’s world. However similarly in case of life insurance the employee might in some cases would be better off if the employer handed over the funds to the employee which he could adequately invest. There are also further tax benefits an employee can avail off if he contributes a part of his salary towards insurance. Thus the benefits of insurance outweigh its disadvantages and hence it is recommended to be provided by all employers. However, generalizing this is not suggested. Thus the best practice is that the employer provides an employee with a option to design his own contributions to suit their requirements after fulfilling the legal aspects to be fulfilled by the organization because in some countries companies are bound to provide insurance policies to its employees constituting a certain percentage of their income.
Q3. Advise about setting up day care center.
A better approach a small company like Carter could use would be to locate a licensed day care provider that would be willing to give a discount to Carter employees instead of building up a centre of their own. Further from starting the company’s management should consider providing subsidized childcare incentives. Later when the organization grows in terms of employees and the management sees the need the company could consider building up their own day care centre.
Ch 14: Ethical Justice And Fair Treatment in HR Management
Q4. Three examples of behavior that would probably be unethical but legal are:
1. Firing a 46-year old employee with 20 years’ tenure without cause. 2. Rewarding employees for bad behavior. 3. Employee misreporting the actual time worked.
Three examples of illegal but ethical behavior are:
1. A police officer did not take a woman to jail for driving without a license, as she had a 6 year old in her car. He made her call someone who had a license and pick her and her child.
2. A serial killer attacks you with a knife and you shoot him in self-defense. 3. Smuggling of medicines into war and disease-stricken areas.
Q6. In this case, I would use a reputable nanny placement agency which is active in the nanny community. A good placement agency knows their nannies, and so reduces the risk of hiring an unsafe person. A good agency has a thorough screening process. This includes a criminal background check, business and personal reference checks, educational background check, employment record check, social security or identification verification, driving record check as well as an in-depth personal interview of the applicant. Most such agencies interview the family to find out their individual search criteria and will only recruit candidates meeting the criteria.
Experiential Exercise – Disciple or Not?
Q.1
If I was the arbitrator, I would first revoke the suspension of the employee, as though she made an error initially, she later attempted to rectify the error in the early stages of the run, notifying the manager of computer operations. If the manager had followed up on her report and stopped the initial run, the resulting string of errors could have been avoided. Even though making the error early on would have earned the employee negative points, she cancelled them out by notifying the manager, who should have acted on her report. Instead, he made the problem even worse than it was. I would discipline the manager. In normal circumstances, the manager would be let off with an oral warning, but here, the manager’s negligence lead to a botched set of
reports and the employee being suspended harshly for 3 days and her promotion being revoked. Hence, here, I will issue a formal written reminder, a copy of which will be placed in the personnel file; and in addition, hold a private discussion with the manager, without any threats. As the management acknowledges that the employee’s work has been impeccable thus far, her promotion should be on again.
Q.2
Here, the issue is mainly about communication and employee involvement in decisions, both of which have been lacking. There is clearly a gap of communication, as the employee makes an error, notifies the manager and expects the error to be rectified but instead the problem is compounded because the manager does not follow-up. The management does not come to know about this because of poor communication; they only know that the employee made an error which, in the end, led to a botched set of reports. The management then suspended the employee and revoked her promotion without even involving her in the process. There should be two-way communication between the employee and the management. The employer should listen to the employee, so that he can come to know about her grievances; and make her understand why the decision was made; and let her know the standards by which he will judge her. He should also ask for her views and allow them to refute the ideas of management. The employee will then perceive the treatment as fairer. In this case, employee will be happier with arbitration. But, when communication is good and there is employee involvement in decision-making, the parties can settle grievances mutually without resorting to arbitration.
Ch 15: Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining
Q1. Discuss how to prepare for union contract negotiations.
The points to be included in Union Contract Negotiation are:
o Management rights
o Union security and automatic payroll dues deduction
o Grievance procedures
o Arbitration of grievances
o Disciplinary procedures
o Compensation rates
o Hours of work and overtime
o Benefits: vacations, holidays, insurance, pensions
o Health and safety provisions
o Employee security seniority provisions, and
o Contract expiration date.
Q3.What can an employer do when employees threaten to go on strike.
Assure the employees that they are looking out for the best interests of the employees and are on their side. They should be more pro-active in resolving the grievances of the employees. In this case, they should hasten a meeting with the Congress to bring to light the issues of the workers and resolve them as soon as possible. In the end, a solution should be worked out that is satisfactory to both parties.
Ch 16: Employee Safety and Health
Q1. Is there such a thing as an accident prone person?
"Accident-prone" means one suffers a greater number of accidents than normal. Researchers are trying to discover if there is a certain type of person who is accident-prone.
A few studies reveal a few clues. A French team of public health researchers, led by Dr G C Gauchard of the WHO Collaborative Centre in the Faculty of Medicine at the Henri Poincare University in Nancy, attempted to
identify the determinants of accident-proneness. They studied 2,610 French railway workers and reported their findings in the 1 February 2006 issue of Occupational Medicine.
The Gauchard team found that 27 per cent of the individuals they studied had more frequent than usual accidents with injuries. This was much higher than the researchers suspected. The researchers also found that youth, inexperience on the job, dissatisfaction with the job (indicated by applying for a job transfer), having no safety training, having a sleep disorder, smoking, and getting little or no exercise were all related to suffering
more accidental injuries. Surprisingly, there was another factor too: Not having a personal hobby (such as gardening).
In 2001, a team of British researchers from the Manchester University Institute of Science and Technology, led by now emeritus Professor Ivan Robertson, identified three key personality traits of people who are not accident-prone:
o Openness: This is the tendency to learn from experience and to be open to suggestions from others. But
the Robertson team cautions that too much openness can increase accident risk.
o Dependability: This is the tendency to be conscientious and socially responsible.
o Agreeableness: This is the tendency not to be aggressive or self-centered. The Robertson team argues that people with low levels of agreeableness tend to be highly competitive and less likely to, for example,
comply with safety instructions.
Q2. Compile list of factors that create dysfunctional stress for you.
Some of the factors that create dysfunctional stress are:
o Work Schedule o Pace of work o Job Security o Nature of clients
According to me the nature and attitude of person towards work and life in general also affects the amount of stress a person feels. For me, peer pressure, pressure to perform in studies and future job uncertainty are the major reasons of dysfunctional stress. To cope with it I listen to music and have a good time with friends.
Ch 17:Managing Global Human Resources
Q4.Determine cost of living in 5 countries.
For the sake of comparison, an "annual wage" column is provided inof currency that has the same purchasing power
Country Minimum wage
Argentina
2,300 Argentine peso about 535.53paid thirteen times a year
Australia
570.00 Australian dollarsthe Fair Work Australia
Austria
none; instead, nationwide collective bargaining agreements set minimum wages by job for each industry; the accepted unofficial annual minimum wage is €12,000 to
Bangladesh
1,800 taka a month; set nationally every five years by the National Minimum Wage Board in a tripartite forum industry by industry
Barbados
BDS$5 per hour for household domestics and shop assistantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country
Ch 17:Managing Global Human Resources
Q4.Determine cost of living in 5 countries.
For the sake of comparison, an "annual wage" column is provided in International dollars, a hypothetical unit purchasing power that the U.S. dollar had in the United States in 2009.
Minimum wage
Gross annual w
age (Intl. doll
ars)
% ofGDP
per
about 535.53 US$ per month, times a year
6,962 63
Australian dollars per week; set federally by Fair Work Australia
20,027 52
none; instead, nationwide collective bargaining agreements set minimum wages by job classification for each industry; the accepted unofficial annual
12,000 to €14,000
14,101 37
a month; set nationally every five years by the National Minimum Wage Board in a tripartite
industry] 798 54
5 per hour for household domestics and shop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minim
um_wages_by_country - cite_note-CRHRP-2009-3 8,208 37
Ch 17:Managing Global Human Resources
, a hypothetical unit in 2009.
of 2009 GDP capita
Effective
August 26, 2011
July 1, 2010
N/A
2007
N/A
The above data can be used to estimate the cost of living in various countries. As we can see that the figure varies a lot while deciding the pay package the management should take cost of living into consideration.
Q6.
The war veteran should have a proper orientation program to help him or her to ease in the new job. To reduce the person’s stress level easier assignments should be given to the person. This will help in increasing the confidence level and get the employee involved in the present work.
Hotel Paris Case:
Q1.
. Individual Hotel Manager must assist or provide the incoming employees from abroad with the following:
o Country’s culture orientation o Assign task to the new employees from abroad. o Welcome and introduce them to their co-workers o Assign someone who will assist them for at least 2-3 months. o Provide information on
1. Accommodation 2. Rules and regulation , the hotel culture 3. Security 4. Annual vacations 5. Annual salary and salary comparison 6. Hotels restriction and limitations 7. Healthcare and insurance 8. Passport for new joiners 9. Corporate pension plan 10. Welfare benefits
Q2.
According training & Development should be given preference also in abroad. The basic training modules can remain same but some cosmetic changes need to be made based on the country’s culture where the new hotel is opened.
Training and Development
Training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group of employees. Performance appraisal will indicate whether improvement is needed. It will benchmark the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort. It is important as a part of an overall professional development program.
Training and development should include:
• Communications • Customer service • Human relations • Quality initiatives • Ethics • Safety • Sexual harassment • Computer skills
Benefits from training & development of employee:
• Increase job satisfaction and morale among the employees • Increased employee motivation • Increased efficiencies in process, resulting in financial gain • Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods • Reduced employee turnover • Enhanced company image.
Q3.
I think for Paris hotel to maintain its high service quality they should set up a performance management and appraisal system. It can increase productivity of the people working in the hotel leading to financial gains. The manager should discuss with each employee their strengths and how to apply them to achieve goals leading to growth. There should be a non-threatening exchange of ideas between the manager and the employee which may help to solidify the relationship and benefit both teams. Further to set example for other employees any good working employee should be praised and awarded. This will motivate other employees as well. Another important point should be to maintain transparency and impartial behavior among employees.
